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‘Why AGF office was starved of funds’

By Adamu Adamu Abuh, Abuja
12 February 2016   |   2:08 am
THE Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), Samuel Orkura, yesterday explained that his outfit was unable to discharge its duties because it has been grossly under-funded over the years. Orkura, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Account (PAC) to defend his 2016 budgetary proposal, stated that he was denied operational funds due…

Samuel-Ukura-Auditor-General-of-the-Federation

THE Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), Samuel Orkura, yesterday explained that his outfit was unable to discharge its duties because it has been grossly under-funded over the years.

Orkura, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Account (PAC) to defend his 2016 budgetary proposal, stated that he was denied operational funds due to the fear that his outfit would be able to expose underhand dealings in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Accompanied by officials of his outfit, he said it was ironical that while the national budget keeps increasing yearly, the budget for the AGF was cut down consistently over the years. The AGF cited non- availability of office accommodation as one of the impediments of his outfit, adding that the situation forced his staffers to share offices with their counterpart in the Ministry of Finance, thereby impacting negatively on the official assignments.

The AGF said that if the N2,986 billion appropriated to his office for the 2016 fiscal year as against the N5.82 billion it requested is made to stand, it would be difficult for his outfit to discharge it’s duties effectively.
He further stated that of the budgeted amount, the sum of N1.881 billion is for personnel cost, N654 million for overhead, while N450 million is for capital projects.

The panel chairman, Ibrahim Baba, observed that the poor funding of the AGF office has made it handicapped to tackle corruption in the various government agencies.

Baba said that with a short fall of about N300 million in the 2016 budget proposal estimates as against last year’s budget, there was no way the Office of the Auditor – General would be able to carry out its activities efficiently.

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